Short Interest in Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) Increases By 26.2%

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,380,000 shares, an increase of 26.2% from the March 31st total of 5,850,000 shares. Approximately 17.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Brinker International from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Brinker International from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Brinker International from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Brinker International from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brinker International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.81.

Brinker International Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE EAT traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $48.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,035,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,345. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.46. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $47.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.69. Brinker International has a 52-week low of $28.23 and a 52-week high of $51.72.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.08 billion. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 3.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Brinker International

In other Brinker International news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total value of $1,086,610.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,548,045.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Brinker International by 0.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,694,269 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $211,472,000 after buying an additional 54,628 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,399,920 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $233,169,000 after purchasing an additional 30,861 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brinker International in the third quarter worth $57,246,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,503,198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $64,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Brinker International by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 936,283 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $40,430,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the last quarter.

About Brinker International

Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands.